October Stargazer

 “The morning stars sang together,
 and all the sons of God
 shouted for joy.”
 Job 38:7

Yesterday morning, I slipped out

 from beneath the cozy nest of blankets on my bed

 and dressing myself warmly, ventured out

 into the frosty air of late October

 to see the stars scattered 

like twinkling diamonds

 across the clear predawn sky. 

 As I gazed up with silent wonder

 at the glittering celestial patterns, 

my soul was swept away

 by the majestic beauty of the heavens

 and the infinite greatness of my Creator.

 My heart's song echoed that of the psalmist's 

hymn of praise: 

"The heavens declare the glory of God;
 and the firmament shows and proclaims
 His handiwork."
 Psalm 19:1

"O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed:

Refrain

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!"

- "How Great Thou Art"

Swedish folk melody
 adapted by Stuart K. Hine
(1899-1989)
Inspired by the poem, "O Store Gud"
 By Reverend Carl G. Boberg
(1859-1940)

"Lift up your eyes on high and see!
 Who has created these?
 He Who brings out their host by number
 and calls them all by name;
 through the greatness of His might
 and because He is strong in power, 
not one is missing or lacks anything."

Isaiah 40:26

I am continually amazed by the depths of space,
 those stars and planets beyond the realm 
of an earthbound stargazer's vision;
  images of the intricacy, 
and distinctive order of the universe,
 captured so beautifully
 by the Hubble Space Telescope

"But in the last of these days
 He has spoken to us
 in the person of a Son,
 Whom He appointed Heir 
and lawful Owner of all things,
 also by and through Who
 He created the worlds
 and the reaches of space
 and ages of time, 
He arranged them in order."

Hebrews 1:2

"And God said,

 Let there be lights

 in the expanse of the heavens

 to separate the day from the night,

 and let them be signs and tokens

 of God's provident care,

 and to mark season, days, and years.

And let there be lights 
in the expanse of the sky
 to give light upon the earth.
 And it was so."

Genesis 1:14-15

 "I see Him, but not now; 
I behold Him, but He is not near. 
A star shall come forth out of Jacob,
 and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel
 and crush all the corners of Moab
 and break down all the sons of Sheth,
 Moab's sons of tumult." 
Numbers 24:17


Behold a star from Jacob shining,
And a scepter from Israel rising,
To reign in glory over the nations.


Like some bright morning star is He,
The promise of the coming day,
Beyond the night of sorrow.


Break forth, 0 Light!
We, our joyful hearts uplifting with thanksgiving,
Hail the brightness of Thy rising.
Words: Based upon Numbers 24:17
Music: From “Christus” 
by Felix Mendelssohn

The prophetic vision of Moses
 was fulfilled by the birth
 of Yeshua, Ha'Mashiach,
 the Star of Jacob!

"Where is He Who has been born
 King of the Jews?
 For we have seen His star 
in the east at its rising 
and have come to
 worship Him."
  Matthew 2:2

Lo! the star in the East! over Bethlehem’s plain,
It shines as a guide to the place
Where the weary, worn trav’ler his hopes may attain,
And worship that Infant of Days.
While forth from their treasures, frankincense and gold,
And the costliest spices they bring.
For in their distant land it had long been foretold,
The birth of that glorious King.

Refrain

Let the glad world rejoice! Let the angelic bands
Their anthems triumphantly sing!
To God be the glory! Sound forth, all ye lands,
The coming of Jesus our King.

Lo! the star in the East! we may gaze on it now;
Be pilgrims, with it for our guide;
The lesson of Bethlehem, still ever new,
The manger, and cross where He died.
We may read, we may learn, from His birth to His grave,
The teachings of peace and of love;
For this is the King Who is mighty to save;
His grace and His love we may prove.

Refrain

Lo! the star in the East! let us follow it still,
No pilgrim it e’er led astray;
Let us bow at His feet, let us study His will,
And ever His precepts obey.
What treasures have we to present to our King,
As an offering fitting and true?
Our hearts and ourselves, blessèd Jesus, we bring,
Accept us, and form us anew.

Refrain

Lo! the star in the East! yet with far wider rays,
Shall its glorious shining go forth;
And earnestly plead, God would hasten the day,
When His knowledge shall fill all the earth.
We would lift up our prayers, we would strengthen our hands,
Would send out our means all abroad,
Till the glorious Gospel is heard in all lands,
And the world is converted to God.

Refrain

 Words: J. M. Low­rie, in The Sil­ver Song,

Music: Will­iam A. Og­den,
 (To­le­do, Ohio: W. W. Whit­ney, 1870), 
num­ber 115. (MIDI, score)

 Wise Men And Women Still Seek Him


 

Hey There, Little Red Riding Hood....

"From this story
 one learns that children 
Especially young girls

Pretty, well bred, and genteel,

 Are wrong to listen to just anyone...

And it's not at all strange

If a wolf ends up eating them.

I say a wolf, but not all wolves

Are exactly the same.
Some are perfectly charming

Not loud, or brutal, or angry

But tame, pleasant and gentle,

Following young ladies
 into their homes;

  into their chambers, 

But watch out
 if you haven't learned

 that tame wolves

Are the most dangerous of all."

 -"Little Red Riding Hood" 


 

 Rosaleen and The Wolf
"The Company of Wolves"
(1984)
 

" Little girls, this seems to say, 
never stop upon your way...
 never trust a stranger friend;
 No one knows how it will end...
As you're pretty, so be wise,
 wolves may lurk in every guise...
 Now as then, 'tis simple truth, 
sweetest tongue has sharpest tooth."
  -Rosaleen
 "The Company Of Wolves"


On a less serious note...

SAM THE SHAM AND THE PHARAOHS
"Lil' Red Riding Hood"

But wait...

 There's more!

Remember folks,
there's always two sides
to every story!

Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf
By doll artist Nancy Wiley

 

 

Famosa's "Little Red Riding Hood" Nancy.

Some Thoughts For Today

"When I am afraid,
 I put my trust in you."
Psalm 56:3

When I see all 
that is happening
 in the world today,
 I suppose it is only natural to feel fearful, 
even inwardly panic-stricken at times. 
 There are many nights when
 I lay awake unable to sleep,
 thinking about the future 
and what might
 or might not happen
 to our nation and the world.

America 2014 
seems like strange land to me, 
so lost and forlorn,
 and so very different
 from the America
 I grew up in, 
where despite all
 our domestic problems,
 people still had morals
 and common sense 
and believed in
 truth and in justice.

Little Things Mean't A lot....

 Like Saying Grace Before Meals...

 And Reciting The Pledge Of Allegiance ...

  Never Harmed Anyone!

America The Beautiful

"O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine!

O Beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!"

 There was still
 a sense of security too,
 that our government 
was responsible
and in control
 and providing protection
 for our citizens.
 This era of complacency 
ended for me
 on the terrible morning
 of September 11, 2001. 
On that day
 I realized, with much sorrow,
 that America was no longer
 a safe haven from the evil of terrorism.

  Now, a little more
 than 10 years later, 
we are facing

 a far greater nightmare.

Our nation's borders
 have been left wide open,
thus encouraging the enemies
 of the American people 
to walk across unfettered, 
bringing their murderous ideology 
and intent to harm or kill our citizens with them.

 The horrible disease called Ebola
 also poses a threat to our nation,
 yet our current leader 
nonchalantly asserts
 there is really nothing
 to worry about
 and proves it
 by admitting he 
has kissed victims
 suffering from this disease...

Meanwhile, 
the rest of our government, 
with the exception
 of a very small group
 of committed men and women
 in  our Congress
 whom are honestly serving
 as public servants, 
have bowed
 their greedy and cowardly knees
 to every form of corruption,
 lies, and filthy behavior imaginable.

 Some, including the man
 elected as President,
 have openly mocked God to His face,
 while embracing and welcoming
 the satanically-inspired cult 
called,
 "the religion of peace" 
to our vulnerable shores.

I feel that the worse
 affront to this nation
 (collectively speaking)
is that America
 has turned her back on God.

 Elohim, Creator God 
of the heavens and the earth,
 the Holy One of Israel, 
the Divine Providence, 
Whose wisdom
 our pilgrim fathers sought 
when crossing the
stormy Atlantic
to come here to
what they called
the new Promised Land,
and Whose laws formed
the basis for the
founding of this nation,
seems to have received 
His walking papers
 from the United States of America.

Like the small
minority of
 true public servants
 in Washington DC,
 true believers in and followers
 of the Lord Jesus Christ
 seem to be less and less
 in America today. 

Meanwhile, the
word, "Christianity"
has taken on a negative
connotation that has nothing
to do with being a
follower of Jesus.

 Many of these 21st century
"CINO" or
"Christians In Name Only"
 choose to dismiss God's Word
 as archaic and meaningless
 in their lives,
while embracing the
 "feel good" satanic lies of universalism,
 especially the erroneous belief that,
 "In the end we'll all go to heaven"
 as spoken through
 the mouths of wily wolves
 misleading the sheep
through their own ignorance
and indifference of God's Word, 
while indulging their 
faithful congregants
ever increasing want of today's
"culture of convenience"
with false teachings
about prosperity.


The apostle Paul said it best:

"For the time is coming
when people will not 
tolerate sound and
wholesome instruction, but,
have ears itching for something
pleasing and gratifying,
they will gather to 
themselves one teacher after another
to a considerable number, 
chosen to satisfy their
own liking and to
foster the errors they hold."
11 Timothy 4:3

  
"Beware of false prophets, 
who come to you 
dressed as sheep, 
but inside they
 are devouring wolves."

Matthew 7:15

 These docile flocks
 of "asleep sheep" 
herd into church,
not to praise and worship
and humbly give thanksgiving
to the Lord,
but to be entertained by
 charismatic and worldly-minded 
charlatans, or worse,
attend a traditional
 Protestant or Catholic church,
where Buddha,
 or the Prophet Mohammad,
can be openly discussed,
 but speaking about Jesus Christ, 
or reading the Good News of the Gospel,
 or supporting the nation and the people of Israel
 is considered offensive,
even "racist"!
(a highly overused and abused
word in our society today)

"And as you have heard

 that the antichrist,

 he who will oppose Christ

 in the guise of Christ 

is coming...

 which confirms our belief

 that it is the final,

 the end time."  

1 John 2:18

Yet, despite all
 that is happening
 in the world today,
 the present situation
 is far from hopeless
 for those who place
 their trust in the
 Lord Jesus Christ.

 Only Jesus

Is The Source

For Real

 Hope and Change!

"I am the Light of the world.
 He who follows Me
 will not be walking
 in the dark,
 but will have the Light 
 which is Life."  
John 8:12

He is the One True Light
 in the darkness of this world,
 having conquered the forces
 of sin and Satan
 forever on the cross.
 It is only through and in Him
 that I can truly experience
 real freedom and everlasting peace
 in my heart. 
So, when I feel 
fearful or uncertain
  in these perilous times, 
I begin to give Him
 glory and praise,
 thanking Him
 for all the blessings
 He has given me, 
especially the glory 
of His immeasurable grace.

"Then one of the elders
 of the heavenly Sanhedrin
 said to me,
 "Stop weeping!
 See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
 the Root Source of David, 
has won,
 has overcome and conquered!
 He can open the scroll
 and break its seven seals." 
 Revelation 5:5